Save me, Soul Sister: Hit single revives a derailed Train

Apr. 1, 2010

Trail plays April 9 at the Grand Sierra Theater. / publicity photo

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If you want to go

Train plays with opener Butch Walker and the Black Widows at 8 p.m. April 9 at the Grand Sierra Resort Theater. Tickets are $35, available at the Grand Sierra and Ticketmaster outlets or ticketmaster.com. Details: 775-789-2000.

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It's been eight years since Train's "Drops of Jupiter" earned Grammy Awards for best rock song and best instrumental arrangement accompanying a vocalist, but drummer Scott Underwood can recall every detail.

"I remember the exact moment (we won best rock song) because we were actually backstage when they said we were the winners," he said. "We just got finished playing 'Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)' on stage, so they had just walked us to right behind the podium. We were behind this stage screen thing and I was still putting my boots on. "» When we were accepting it, (singer) Pat (Monahan) was talking and I'm just looking around at the audience at mega-huge bands and artists. U2 is who really comes to mind because they were front row. That was the year they almost swept the Grammys, and I was just looking down at them and I couldn't believe that they were looking up at us on stage and applauding."

It was a big moment and one that, frankly, Underwood never thought the band would top.

"I didn't think we'd ever have a song bigger than 'Drops of Jupiter,'" he said. "You know, we were told that a lot. Like, 'You guys don't expect to ever have a "Drops of Jupiter" again. I mean you guys really knocked it out of the park and most bands don't ever see something like that happen.' We were good with that. We were like, 'Well, that's cool.'"

Modest expectations and all, Train is back in the spotlight, and the band has by all appearances exceeded its "Drops of Jupiter" heyday. After a three-year break from recording and touring, three of the original members -- Underwood, Monahan and guitarist Jimmy Stafford -- decided to return to the studio and make a new album. The first single, "Hey, Soul Sister," had a slow start upon its October release, but ended up topping charts, giving Train its first major commercial hit in more than five years. The song has already been certified platinum and it recently reached No. 1 on the iTunes chart.

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"This is exceeding 'Drops of Jupiter's' success and it looks like it's got a ways to go yet," Underwood said. "So, this is just really great, and it couldn't have happened at a better time. I know that the three of us really appreciate our career right now and each other and we don't take this for granted at all. It's really nice to be in a position where we really know how special this is and then to have it happen. It's just a really good time in this band."

When Train decided to take a break from active playing in 2006, Underwood said, nobody knew what was next.

"We said, 'Let's take a break,' but it was open-ended," Underwood said. "It could have been a 10-year break. It could have been forever. We knew it would be a few years and it was something that was needed. I definitely was really tired of touring and working as hard as we were working and I just wanted to try some new things with my life. I had a new family, kids and a wife, and I kind of wanted to hang out with them. We all just did our own thing for awhile. Pat did his solo record. Jimmy wrote a book. I did various musical projects and just tried different things here and there."

In 2009, Underwood said, Monahan called him and Stafford, and they decided it was time to work together again.

"We were all ready for it," Underwood said. "We decided to make some changes in the band and in the management and with our producer and everything. That's kind of what happened. We asked (bass player) Johnny Colt to leave. We wanted to make it just Pat, Jimmy and I once again, the original members, and then we changed our management."

Underwood said one reason they wanted to change things was to try and recover the feeling the band had when it was getting started during the mid-1990s in San Francisco.

"We just sort of felt like, over the course of our career, maybe we lost our direction a little bit," he said. "With success and sort of the fame that comes with everything, I think our feet were a little bit off the ground and we just wanted to kind of ground ourselves again."

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To that end, the name of the new album is "Save Me, San Francisco," and the title track is an homage to the California city.

"That's where we started, of course, and we just have fond memories of the beginnings of this band and just how humble we were and how much everything meant to us and how much we appreciated just playing music," Underwood said. "We spent about 12 years in San Francisco as a band. That's where we all moved to join together and start things up."

Today, Monahan lives in Seattle, Stafford lives in Las Vegas and Underwood lives in Evergreen, Colo., but Underwood said they all have a real fondness for the San Francisco Bay area.

"We didn't leave there because we don't love San Francisco," he said. "Life took its course. I mean, my wife really wants to live in Colorado. That's where she's from, and I love it there. That's kind of why I'm there. Same with Pat. Actually, same with Jimmy. We kind of live where our wives live. Jimmy has divorced his wife since then, but his daughter's still there in Vegas. But every time I'm back in San Francisco -- and this is true for all of us -- we truly love it. I just feel like that's my home. I lived in Marin County the whole time, and I just know every corner of that place."

With "Hey, Soul Sister" continuing to ride a swell of popularity, Underwood said the band is looking at a lot of touring, but hasn't made plans beyond that.

"We're completely booked through this year and I'm sure we'll be booked for a lot of next year," he said. "We're not even talking about what we're going to do for the next record yet. That's too far away."